Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

The Humboldt Laboratory, located on the first floor of the Humboldt Forum, will be a vibrant setting for knowledge and science. The Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin is seeking to awaken visitors’ enthusiasm for the diversity, fascination and relevance of science and scholarship with this interdisciplinary exhibition and cultural event space spread over approximately 1,000 square metres. The activities in the Humboldt Laboratory illustrate the impressive spectrum of research facilities at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. First and foremost, the Laboratory presents scientific approaches that lead to the creation of new knowledge. It also reveals how scientific research is performed in various fields of study as well as the types of questions researchers address. Rather than showcasing scientific achievements, the Humboldt Laboratory gives people an insight into the processes of discovery in past and present scientific practice, complete with controversies, speculation, errors and limitations.

University research focuses on pressing social issues that embrace many different disciplines, such as future mobility, sustainability and the challenges faced in healthcare policy. In addition to their scholarly dimensions, such questions are also extremely relevant for our daily lives, for they examine issues such as measuring heavy metal contamination in our food, programming and designing our smartphones, redefining our relationship to the ancient world, machine learning and artificial intelligence, innovative definitions of space and matter, current debates surrounding migration and questioning European perceptions of interpretation and evaluation. The Humboldt Laboratory shows how science is relevant to all of us. The results are not always predictable—and it is precisely this unpredictability that leads to unexpectedly new discoveries in the world. In this sense, the Humboldt Laboratory sees itself as a lively laboratory of ideas and a stage for knowledge. Its formats are as diverse as its themes: exhibitions, workshops, scientific experiments, lectures, discussion series, performances, media installations, “transparent” laboratories and even on-site field research stations. The Humboldt Laboratory is truly an exciting place: up-to-date, open and networked— and it delights in experimentation as well as controversy. In the Humboldt Laboratory you can experience science in action!